Letter by Nelson sells for £32,000 - 16/07/2010

The letter by Admiral Horatio Nelson was written four days before the battle of Trafalgar in 1805 and a private buyer paid £32,450 for it.

Auction house Sotheby's sold the collectible earlier this week and estimated that it would sell for between £9,000 and £12,000, reports Reuters.

The letter was sent to the governor of Gibraltar, rear admiral John Knight, four days before the battle in which Nelson was killed.

Nelson tells the governor to keep quiet about the shortage of drinking water aboard HMS Victory and that he wanted the wind to change so that the enemy, France, would face the British ships.

Gabriel Heaton from Sotheby's told the news provider: "He obviously wants to take the fight to the enemy. He was never in any doubt that his men and his ships would win in a fight.

"The significant factor about it is the date. That's really what makes this such a striking document."

Nelson was an English flag officer famous for his service in the royal navy during the Napoleonic Wars.

Posted by Juliet Miller